One Last Thing Before You Go

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My husband and I took the trip of a lifetime last November when we traveled to Italy without any children. We sipped wine on a porch overlooking the Tuscan hillside. We learned to make homemade ravioli, and we strolled through piazzas in the evenings. A Saturday drive down the Amalfi Coast revealed some of the most beautiful sights we’ve ever seen, and we posed for selfies with the statue of David and in St. Peter’s Square. Best of all, we slept all night for ten consecutive nights with no pint-sized nighttime visitors. Before the travel, the sightseeing, the romance, and the rest began, though, I faced the daunting task of preparing to leave my children in the care of their grandparents while we traveled abroad.

In my former life as a public school teacher, I dreaded taking days off work. Preparing to be absent for a day was far more work than actually teaching my students. Those old feelings of dread resurfaced when I sat down to make a list of all the tasks I needed to accomplish before leaving the country. My lifelong obsession with organization led me to spending the weeks before the trip researching, shopping, and eventually creating notebooks that were essential survival guides for the grandparents. All of that work shouldn’t go to waste now that my trip has come and gone, so I’ll share what I learned with you.

Easy Does It

If you are fortunate enough to have family members in your life that will take time away from their busy schedules to care for your children, thank them for their generosity by making things as easy as possible for them. In my case, that meant grocery shopping ahead of time for my mother-in-law because she prefers to heat prepared foods, rather than cook from scratch or go out to eat. For my parents, I left cash because my mom wanted to grocery shop and cook with my son who loves spending time in the kitchen. What makes life easy in your case may look totally different, so the key here is to have conversations with your caregivers before you leave. Find out directly from the source what their preferences are before you hit the road.

Keep In Touch

Of course, everyone knows to leave the pediatrician’s phone number for baby-sitters, but don’t stop there. Leave a contact list for your kids’ dentist, orthodontist, and any other medical providers. In addition, leave a list of phone numbers of moms that can help with questions regarding school and extra-curricular activities. Don’t forget the number for your local pizza delivery!

If you have school-age children, contact your children’s teachers before you leave. Let the teachers know when you’ll be gone and whom they can contact if there are problems while you’re out of town. Giving the teachers a heads up is a nice gesture so that they will know what’s happening if your children’s homework habits or behavior are a little unusual in your absence.

The Devil Is in the Details

If you have young children, you may be able to leave a general schedule of nap times, meal times, bedtimes, etc. My older children are busy with extra-curricular activities, so a general schedule was not sufficient for us. I wrote a daily schedule that highlighted the changes in each day’s routine (i.e., Girl Scouts meeting on Tuesday and basketball practice on Thursday). While writing a schedule probably seems simple on the surface, I spent quite a bit of time writing this portion of the survival notebook. I kept a document open on my computer for a couple of weeks and added to it every time something new came to mind (garbage day, team picture time, field trips, and more).

Last But Not Least

The single most important items you need before your vacation are hopefully the ones your caregivers will never have to use. If you leave the country or travel far enough that you could not be home in time to sign consent for medical treatment in the case of an emergency, create a Power of Attorney form that grants your caregivers the power to make decisions in your absence. With a quick Internet search, you can locate a free legal service that will allow you to print and have notarized a Power of Attorney form. Rather than a simple Medical Power of Attorney form, I left a Power of Attorney form with broader provisions so that the grandparents could make decisions about school and medical issues in our absence. The notary at my bank notarized the documents for free.

 Last but not least, leave a copy of your insurance card. In the event of a medical emergency, you don’t want anything to get in the way of your child receiving the treatment he or she needs.

 

After all the work is done, you’ll be able to travel (relatively) worry-free knowing you’ve left your children in good hands and knowing you’ve left your caregivers well-prepared for both the expected and unexpected adventures of life with your children. Return home well rested and ready to resume the most challenging and rewarding job in the world—raising children.

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Melanie Hooks
Melanie was born in North Carolina but spent most of her life in Georgia before moving to Palm Beach County in 2015. Before moving to Florida, Melanie was a librarian, and now she is a stay-at-home mom. She and her husband, Mark, have a blended family with six children: Elizabeth, Grace, Calvin, Maggie, Lily Mae and Miles. The kids keep her pretty busy, but when she has time for herself Melanie enjoys reading, eating the chocolate she hides from her family, and she recently began competing in triathlons. Like a true Southern girl, she bakes a mean batch of biscuits and loves anything with a monogram.